The American Spectator

To follow up on a Friday item, the Heritage Foundation has apparently worked for RomneyCare for some time now. Shawn Macomber, TAS expert on most things Mitt and gadfly of presidential hopefuls, says that Heritage helped write parts of the Massachusetts health care bill. When he asked Romney about the bill for his profile in our March issue, Romney immediately cited Heritage’s support to bolster the legislation’s conservative credentials.

Interestingly, Heritage is responding to criticism of the plan on its website. The tone is awfully defensive, touting the “Connector” (Heritage’s brainchild), likened to CarMax in that “there are many different kinds of cars to choose from, all obtainable through one giant dealership.” While that may send up red flags for free marketeers out there, how ‘bout that individual mandate? Heritage and Romney have redubbed it the “personal responsibility mandate.” By which they mean that residents of Massachusetts are now personally mandated to buy something they may not need.

And as the Wall Street Journal pointed out, Romney didn’t deregulate the key part of the Massachusetts insurance law: residents are still required to buy full coverage instead of a minimal “catastrophic” coverage.

The Heritage defense admits that Romney first considered the individual mandate “counterproductive and wrong” before rationalizing it. He, and Heritage, should have stuck with their gut instinct. Now they’re both left holding the bag.